Saturday 28 January 2012 14.57 EST
First published on Saturday 28 January 2012 14.57 EST

In the end there was no handshake on offer and none to be accepted. There was no pre-match lineup at which opposing centre-halves could eyeball each other, and no penalty area wrestling or even skull-juddering aerial challenges as the pair went head to head. In fact, there was barely any contact at all between Anton Ferdinand and John Terry. Rivals caught up in the depressing fallout from October's derby merely busied themselves in their own lonely duties as the storm raged all around them at Loftus Road.

This had felt like an incendiary occasion. Collisions between these clubs are traditionally spiky but the legacy of their last meeting, on 23 October, had inflamed the build-up to this rematch. Terry's legal counsel will deliver a plea of not guilty at West London magistrates court on Wednesday, when the England captain faces a charge of committing a racially aggravated public order offence in an altercation with Ferdinand during the hosts' 1-0 win here three months ago. The QPR defender has endured death threats since, with a package containing a letter and a spent cartridge sent to Loftus Road for his attention 24 hours before this contest.

That was a dismal backdrop to which this fixture was played. Football felt like an afterthought, an irrelevance while insanity set in all around. That both Ferdinand and Terry, who has consistently and vehemently denied directing the comments at his opposite number, offered such cool, calm professionalism in the face of provocation was admirable. This was a scruffy, unappealing game but both defenders emerged with credit for maintaining their focus. André Villas‑Boas described Terry as "excellent"; Mark Hughes his own centre-back as "tremendous". There was relief to be had that neither needed to collide in direct confrontation.

The decision to abandon the pre‑match handshake felt sensible, even if it effectively meant the Football Association suspending their Respect campaign in an effort to maintain some level of respect. As childish as the whole formality can appear, it had felt an unnecessary distraction here. Talks had been held at each club over the preceding 24 hours, and with the FA, once it became clear Ferdinand was not inclined to accept Terry's hand and that QPR's players were anxious to deliver a show of solidarity with their team-mate. Had the hosts all blanked the visiting captain as players drifted down the line, any sense of acute embarrassment might have been lost amid the fury descending from the stands. The FA confirmed in a statement the desire to "further diffuse [sic] tensions". The lack of a flash point drew sting from the match itself, though that was probably a small price to pay. "It was a question of avoiding a 'trouble' situation," Villas-Boas said.

The pantomime had been cancelled. "But why offer handshakes if they're not going to be done with integrity?" Hughes asked, quite legitimately. As it was, the only QPR player to shake hands with Terry publicly was the captain, Joey Barton, who did so at the coin toss and, again, after the final whistle as the players started drifting towards the tunnel.

Those were perhaps the most telling moments. Terry had been deep inside his own half when Mike Dean blew for full time and offered no reaction, even as the boos still rang out as he turned to acknowledge his goalkeeper, Petr Cech. While he strode towards the visiting support, Ferdinand was conducting his own circuit of the turf, clapping the three stands occupied by Rangers fans, forever with his back to the visiting captain. There was a brief hug with Daniel Sturridge and an affectionate pat on the head from Hughes as he reached the mouth of the tunnel, and he was gone.

"Anton has conducted himself really well," the Rangers manager said. "It was important he went out and faced what he had to, and he's come away with a lot of credit." Hammersmith and Fulham police will continue to investigate the package, complete with a "pellet" according to Hughes. That the worst chants Ferdinand had to endure from some among the 3,114 Chelsea fans were asking him to reveal the score was something but to target him at all is still baffling.

For Terry, the abuse was more merciless. The home partisans waited until their side trailed to Juan Mata's penalty, the mood more poisonous after Sturridge's grateful crumple in the area, before resorting to a blunt rendition of "racist, racist, racist". There were unsavoury songs about Terry's mother, his entire family, and constant reminders that "we know what you are" and "we know what you said". The taunts were tribal and ignored the fact that Terry remains innocent until proven guilty, but the England captain would have anticipated them all.

He made eye contact with his tormentors only briefly, while Ramires was undergoing treatment, but otherwise stayed in his bubble. The hooked clearance to prevent Tommy Smith scurrying in on goal early on summed up the excellence of his display. That Cech did not have a save to make until the seventh minute of added time said much for Terry's strong-arm resilience.

He retired victorious and the authorities will take similar heart that this combustible occasion passed off without major incident. A ball being thrown back at Ashley Cole from the stands felt irrelevant given all the pre‑match concerns. There were no arrests made and will be no replay to recharge the tension. Indeed, these teams will not meet again until 28 April. The hope, however vain, is that Terry's case will have been resolved by then.